~ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you … John 13:34

By their fruits …

In response to yesterdays’ post, several of you commented on the contrast between the two marches in Washington in the last week or so. It was hard not to be struck by the anomaly of the fact that the first march sloganeered that ‘Love Trumps hate’, whilst exhibiting far more hate than love; indeed some of the messages from that march seem profoundly contradictory: women (rightly) complaining about being objectified whilst dressing as a vagina; protestations of love whilst the evidence was that what was meant was lust – a confusion so common in our society as to almost pass without notice; and an emphasis on what humanity had in common whilst banning those who believed that life begins at conception. It was, in short, the perfect paradigm of what has gone wrong with modern liberalism: claiming tolerance, it oozed intolerance; claiming love, it exuded hate; claiming unity, it celebrated disunity; and finally, speaking about what is best in our common humanity, it evidence what is worst about it. By contrast, the “March for Life” did nothing to scandalise public decency, and the only signs of ‘hate’ came from the professional purveyors of ‘love’ on the left.

The explanation for the contrast is not far to seek. Those who so loudly proclaim their support for ‘tolerance’ do so in order to bully those who do not think that their alternative life-styles should be endorsed by the State, and, when the State gives in, they turn to the Church. As I got ready for Mass this morning I listened, as I tend to, to the ‘Sunday’ programme on radio 4, where there were no fewer than three items examining the ongoing ‘scandal’ of the Church of England refusing to totally abandon what the Bible says about marriage. The method was the usual one – how can we say we are ‘loving’ if we do not endorse the life-style chosen by a loving couple? Those who talked about the Biblical witness were not countered by argument, but by sentiment. Which of us does not sympathise with those attracted to the same sex who want to regularise their relationships? But those argument are precisely what has persuaded the State to allow such couples to get married. This is not enough,of course, and it was never going to be enough. Despite the Church of England being specifically allowed opt-outs from the legislation, those who insist that it just has to accommodate their own wishes, and to hell with the wishes of others and of Tradition, will continue to chip away until the Church of England gives in; and when, as on this occasion, it refuses, there is the usual round of anger about ‘hate’. But there is no hint that there is any alternative which involves those with same-sex attraction not getting what they want because they want it. The minority who take the view that they cannot exercise that option because it contravenes Scripture, are rarely given air-time.

Those Catholics who imagined that the previous two papacies had put such agitations to test in their own Church, now know differently. The world will not cease its hostility to Christians until they abandon anything which marks them off from it.

It is the nature of the beast that a saboteur is never satisfied with yesterday’s results and will not be satisfied until even the saving Ark that provides them safe passage and true liberty and freedom is scuttled or sunk. It is not enough to burn or rip holes in the sails but they must next begin pulling the dried pitch from between the boards of the hull allowing the bilge to fill with seawater of the world. If that fails they will slit the throats of those who are of the opposing camp and throw them into the sea. Until every last vestige of the Ark is compromised and the Ark is in their control they will not find solace or peace . . . for they do their father’s will and seem to have more loyalty to him than the complacent do for our Eternal Father.

The world is full of the minions of revolution and anarchy and unless we are filled with resolve they will rule both church and state alike. I find this a rather instructive time in my life as I watch the saboteurs demands met both by church and state and the reaction much like that which St. Ignatius tells us is the ‘womanly’ [sentimental emotionalistic] mannerisms of the enemy.

The Twelfth Rule:
“The enemy acts like a woman, in being weak against vigor and strong of will. Because, as it is the way of the woman when she is quarrelling with some man to lose heart, taking flight when the man shows her much courage: and on the contrary, if the man, losing heart, begins to fly, the wrath, revenge, and ferocity of the woman is very great, and so without bounds; in the same manner, it is the way of the enemy to weaken and lose heart, his temptations taking flight, when the person who is exercising himself in spiritual things opposes a bold front against the temptations of the enemy, doing diametrically the opposite. And on the contrary, if the person who is exercising himself commences to have fear and lose heart in suffering the temptations, there is no beast so wild on the face of the earth as the enemy of human nature in following out his damnable intention with so great malice.”

Have to admit I haven’t read much of St. Ignatius, I probably should. But this is AATW and I have read Kipling, who says this:

She is wedded to convictions—in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies!—
He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild,
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

Unprovoked and awful charges—even so the she-bear fights,
Speech that drips, corrodes, and poisons—even so the cobra bites,
Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw
And the victim writhes in anguish—like the Jesuit with the squaw!

So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
To some God of Abstract Justice—which no woman understands.

And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
Must command but may not govern—shall enthral but not enslave him.
And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male.”

Aye. I feel great parallels emerging between what we see happening in this battle for the soul of our fine country and the battle for our spiritual soul waged by Christ and His adversary.

For it seems that we have flipped our understanding on its head in both instances. We once preserved our ‘pillow talk’ and ‘dialogue of love’ to the private moments between the soul and its Spouse. Yet we in practice, religion was a manly thing that followed strict rules of moral conscience and compass to lead us aright in our living.

Quite similarly we reserved our emotions for the founding fathers and documents and the love of those who have shed their blood for our freedoms and yet resisted the enemies of our fair nation with a manly relolution and abided by our laws which ordered our lives and ensured the next generation of the same freedoms we now enjoy.

Today, through laxity, we have allowed the expressions to change 180 degrees. We are sentimental in practice and manly and uncaring in our private moments with our private thoughts concerning the sacrifices that were made in the past; the love of nation and that love or Christ. There are similarities here and we are making the same mistakes in matters of both Church and State.

Nothing to add, nothing to subtract. I agree, we are, and yet, as C. notes above, the contrast of the two weekends calls our attention, as it demonstrates that even 44 years later, after much carnage, our people stand strong, in fact, are gaining strength. No battle is over until it is over, and the Lord will be victorious in the end.

It isn’t as clear in other areas, of course, but there the battle is newly joined, at least in our generation, and its course, also will be long and heartbreaking, I suspect. But it has been well and truly joined. This trumpet is known for having never blown retreat, and so it will be again, if brave men and women make it so. And I think they shall.

Well said. It will be a long and painful struggle to set the ship aright again I suspect. When disorder becomes the new order, lies become the new truth and evil is extolled as a good. Somebody needs to awake Christ in the bow of the boat and have him calm the winds and angry sea once again . . . that is if anyone thinks that Christ has such authority over such things anymore. There are signs at least that folks are perhaps awakening from their slumber and I hope that they are astute enough to arouse Christ in their battle. For we are of feignt heart without our King to lead us.

The world is by its fundamental nature inimical to Christ’s body. What ISIS is doing to Christians is the more extreme example of how the world thinks of us (or perhaps it’s simply the logical end of what inevitably must come with the Church’s relationship to the world). I don’t think it should surprise us that Christianity cannot remain in its culturally/politically dominant position in the West and keep its soul; I tend to think that we must gradually shrink back to a persecuted minority inevitably because of the very nature of what the Church is. That the kingdom of God has broken through into this world and visibly manifests itself is intolerable to Satan, and so long as he’s allowed to roam and influence those not under the sway of Christ, he will rage against Jesus until the time of his final damnation arrives.

It is true that the Kingdom of God has broken through into this world but let us not deceive ourselves that the World is now revelling in the fact that the world has now broken through into the Kingdom of God. So the evil one’s revenge is being realized and it remains to be seen how the Church will either survive as a remnant Church or cleanse the Temple and bring about a reform. If the latter, then there is no reason to think that people will be drawn back to the Church and that the Christian Culture can once again predominate the countries in the West. If not we will eventual be a catacomb culture once again.

I suspect the Church has always existed in a perpetual state of crisis, in one way or another, of the world breaking into the Kingdom as you say to cause havoc and confusion. I don’t believe there was ever a golden period of this not occurring; not saying you do, but I just think sometimes we easily form echo chambers on the internet and can fall into that temptation. The perpetual crisis of the Church is inevitable since we live in a world that exists in the perpetual crisis of being alienated from God, and the inhabitants of God’s Kingdom this side of life are still broken and sinful, redeemed but not yet fully realized in the eschatological reality of our salvation. I certainly agree that we are probably slowly on our way to returning to a catacomb culture of sorts. If judgement begins in the house of God, then I suspect it’s inevitable since the privilege of being culturally and politically dominant eventually has the effect of the missionary Church becoming complacent in her leisure. The Church seemed at her best, in my estimation, when she was small and in frequent danger, as in that state she was limber and in fighting shape. I appreciate your input and I take these discussions as an opportunity for some self-examination, to see where I too have grown complacent, and where I’m in most need of God’s grace to make me fit for service as a combatant in the Church militant.

Make no mistake about it Steven, we are all being put to the test at the moment. We are confused, leaders are scant and opposed by their brothers in ministry and the people are as complacent as they have ever been about the problems confronting the Church.

The Church is not always in crisis however such as we see today. Though under attack continuously we have had long stretches between actual spiritual crisis that were rebuffed primarily by the interior unity of the Church. When that unity is broken you are in for a wild ride and that is what you are witnessing my friend as are the rest of us. So you are not alone and yes, we have to choose sides eventually and hope and pray that we choose rightly with the guiding lights and principles given to us by the Holy Trinity, the past popes, bishops, priests, saints, seers and martyrs for the faith. It won’t be an easy decision for anyone for what the optics convey are not always the reality of any situation and it will take spritual discernment where most of us are not equipped to make it and few are there to help guide us through it. We must trust that we only do that which Christ would have us do and beyond that we have to live with that decision when we receive our own private judgement. Let us hope that Christ will have mercy on us for our darkened intellect and impoverished spiritual readiness for such a battle.

How dare you besmirch the wonderful Church of England. Me and my blushing bride are going to be wed in its august ivy coverd halls. We went first to the Catholic church to be betrothed, and they turned us down, for the simple reason we are both of the same gender. Some church…turning away people. Well, one people.

Not everywhere – In USA and Canada I think it is called the Episcopal Church in my homeland it is called ‘The Church in Wales’. Note the difference not ‘The Church OF Wales’.
The point is anglicans are a community of churches in each nation it is an independent church with its own bishops but maintaining intercommunion world-wide. This may change, African bishops may disassociate from ‘The Episcopal Church of USA’ over the same sex marriage issue.

Episcopal Anglican…ah…whats in a name. I thought the Anglican church OKd same sex marriage, if im not mistaken. That’s why me and my fiancée are high tailin it over to the Anglican church to get,er eh, hitched. We had trouble finding a church that would marry same sex individuals. But we found the welcoming arms of the Anglican church. You see,the trouble was, on top of being in a homosexual relationship, my fiancée…….is a horse.

C, somewhat off topic, but when you get a chance I would like your opinion of this article. Would your answers be different from John Julius Norwich’s? I seem to believe that they, because their culture is so different, can’t assimilate. They can only change their country of residence. What has been England’s experience? Is there a move to reduce the number of yearly immigrants?

"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." J.R.R. Tolkien <br>“I come not from Heaven, but from Essex.” William Morris